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Girl power
Page 36
Page 37
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Women workers are vastly under-represented in the road transport workforce. However, some key employment laws
can help to redress the balance.
Charmaine Hibbert reports.
I) espite a continuing shortage of drivers, only 1.3% of the road transport workforce are women.The figure comes from government-backed training body Skills for Logistics (SfL), which has been working on initiatives aimed at increasing opportunities for women.
"The Women and Work Sector Pathways initiative aims to raise recruitment levels in sectors where women are under-represented. It aims to increase earning potential and aid career progression," says Ian Hetherington, chief executive at SfL. -For example, we aim to train at least 575 new women LGV drivers."
Despite SfL's initiatives, many women are put off by road transport because of a perception that it is a male-dominated industry with little room for flexibility. Recent changes to employment law may help to improve the industry's image among female workers. In April this year, the government extended legislation on flexible working and introduced new maternity rights.
Flexible working
Parents with a child under six or a disabled child under 18 can make a request for flexible working. From 6 April 2007, the right was extended to carers of adults. Employers have a duty to take such a request seriously but can ultimately reject it for a legitimate business reason.
Once a request has been made, the employer must arrange a meeting at which the employee can bring a companion. The employer must then send a written decision within 14 days, which the employee can appeal if the request is rejected. An unreasonable refusal can lead to an award of compensation at an Employment Tribunal of up to £290 a week.
"It is important to be able to balance work and family responsibilities. We at the T&G welcome the support for both men and women to be able to do so," says Diana Holland, head of equality at the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G).
At present only 12% of UK workplaces offer flexible working, amid fears it will have a detrimental effect on turnover.
Flexible working options include: • Part-time working • Job sharing • Flexitime: choosing when to work, usually within a core period of working time • Home working • Compressed hours: working agreed hours over fewer days • Annualised working: hours are calculated out over a year • Staggered hours:different starting, break and finishing times for employees in the same workplace
Maternity leave
Women are entitled to 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and, providing they give 15 weeks' notice of their due date, to a further 26 weeks' Additional Maternity Leave (AML). Before April 2007 a woman needed to have been with her employer for 26 weeks to qualify for AML — that is no longer the case. Statutory maternity pay is available for 39 weeks of leave.
Parental leave, usually unpaid, is available to either parent if they have been with their Women who have been discriminated against on any of the grounds mentioned in this feature can use their workplace grievance procedure (mandatory for every workplace) to raise their complaint in the first instance. When that procedure is exhausted, they can take their case to an Employment Tribunal or to ACAS (The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service).
Union members are at an advantage here as legal advice is costly and there is no guarantee of success. However, a few high-profile cases where high earning women have taken their bosses to court for sex discrimination show that compensation can run to tens of thousands of pounds.
employer for more than a year: a total of 13 weeks per child is available for a child up to the age of five or 18 weeks for a disabled child up to the age of 18.
Equal pay
Women and men have had the right to equal pay since I 975 for doing the same job or for work of equal value, but discrimination still takes place in many workplaces and women on average earn about three quarters of the male wage.
"We've got a pay gap we keep measuring and we need to close it," says Holland. 'the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the DTI) and the T&G believe it is the biggest pay gap in Europe. "There should be pay audits in every workplace to check the pay systems and to combat discrimination,adds Holland.
As well as basic wages, the legislation covers bonuses and overtime, holiday pay and occupational pensions.
Sexual harassment
Although the law is not gender-specific, women are the victims in most cases of sexual harassment. The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex, gender reassignment or because someone is married or a civil partner.
The law was recently toughened with the introduction of the Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005, which introduced a new definition of indirect discrimination and added specific definitions to cover discrimination on the grounds of harassment and pregnancy or maternity leave.
"Sexual harassment is an insidious and often unreported issue which can change women's working lives for the worst and in extreme circumstances women can end up leaving because of the problems they face or from one or two serious incidents," says Holland. "No one should have to demonstrate they have the skills for a particular job and then have to be prepared to put up with sexual harassment or any other form of discrimination."
Recruitment
The law forbids discrimination by gender, age, ethnicity, religious belief and disability when recruiting. Gone are the days when an ad might seek a "young, attractive receptionist". There are a few exemptions: an agent casting a femme fatale for a Bond movie would be fairly safe advertising for female actors to audition.
There are no exemptions applicable to the road transport industry, Dermot Thomas, employment lawyer at Barker Gotelee, says the only factor here is that you are suitably qualified. "It is relatively rare to advertise for a particular sex in this industry anyway; I haven't come across any cases of discrimination in recruitment yet. I think it is down to the client if they feel a case is worth pursuing.There doesn't seem to be a lot of motivation to bring this kind of claim but it doesn't mean that people can't or shouldn't make a claim. People will only make a claim if it directly affects them.
"However, disability discrimination in the areas of recruitment comes up quite a lot." •